The Ministry of Defence ( ur, , ''Wazarat-e-Difa'', abbreviated as MoD), is an executive ministry of the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

, tasked in defending Pakistan's national interests and values at home and abroad. It plays a major supporting role to the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

and coordinates with a range of domestic, foreign and inter-governmental bodies. The existence and functions of the ministry are statutorily defined in ''Part XII, Chapter II'' of the

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was approved by ...

. The responsibilities for procurement, production and disposal of equipment were transferred in 2004 to the

Ministry of Defence Production The Ministry of Defence Production ( ur, ), is a Cabinet-level ministry of Pakistan government concerned with the development and production of the full range of equipment and stores for the Pakistan Armed Forces ranging from platforms such as m ...

. The Ministry of Defence is one of the largest federal ministries of the Government of Pakistan in terms of budget as well as staff.

Hierarchy

The Minister of Defence is

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

member, who is responsible for controlling the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. The current Minister of Defence is

Khawaja Muhammad Asif Khawaja Muhammad Asif (; born 9 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician currently serving as the Defence Minister of Pakistan since April 2022, He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, since August 2018. Previously, he was a m ...

. The

Secretary of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...

is the senior-most administrative figure within the ministry, who in recent decades has typically been a retired three-star Pakistani army general. The assistant secretaries serving under him are serving flag-officers belonging to the respective services. The following is a simplified representation of the MoD's senior leadership: *Minister of Defence (political head) **Secretary of Defence (administrative head) ***Assistant Secretary I (Army) ****Joint Secretary I (Army) ****Joint Secretary III (Coordination) ***Assistant Secretary II (Admin / PAF) ****Joint Secretary V (Budgets & Public Accounts Committee) ****Joint Secretary VII (Air Force) ***Assistant Secretary III (Navy) ****Joint Secretary II (Navy & Maritime) ****Joint Secretary IV (Inter-Services)

History

The Ministry of Defence is a successor of the ''Military Department'' created by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

in 1776. Its main function was to coordinate and record orders, relating to the Army, issued by various Departments of the Government of the East India Company. The Military Department initially functioned as a branch of the Public Department and maintained a list of Army personnel. Following Pakistan's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

in 1947, the Ministry of Defence was established at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

in August of that year, with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan also holding the Minister of Defence, while

Iskander Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakistan. ...

served as

Defence Secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...

. British flag officers remained commanders-in-chief of the army, navy and air force in Pakistan until 1956. In December 1959, the federal capital shifted temporarily to Rawalpindi, while plans for Islamabad were drawn up by then-General

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

's military government. The proximity of the Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi played a major role in the decision to relocate the capital. In March 1972,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

in response to criticism over the difficulties in inter-service coordination in previous wars decreed that all service HQs were to move to Islamabad. The Navy was the first to comply, with Naval Headquarters moving from

to Sector E9

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

1974, while Air Headquarters moved from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

to Sector E10 Islamabad in 1983. Following two failed assassination attempts in Rawalpindi,

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

restarted plans in 2004 for the entire defence establishment to shift to Sector E10 in Islamabad where the Ministry of Defence along with the four service headquarters would be based. This was subsequently cancelled in 2008 grounds of cost following Musharraf's forced resignation. The Ministry of Defence is presently located at "Calcutta House" in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

. Other related top-level head offices based in Rawalpindi include the

(MoDP), Joint Staff Headquarters and the Army General Headquarters. The Air Headquarters and the Naval Headquarters are located in

Organization

The following organizations and services are under the Ministry of Defence:http://202.83.164.29/mod/orgDetails.aspx * Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) **

Inter Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ( ur, ), is the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's civilian media and the civic society. The ISPR directo ...

(ISPR) ** Inter Services Selection Board (ISSB) ** National Defence University (NDU) ** Strategic Plans Division (SPD) *** National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) **** Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO) **** Air Weapons Complex (AWC) **** National Defence Complex (NDC) *** Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) ** Military Engineering Services (MES) * Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) *

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

Frontier Works Organisation The Frontier Works Organization ( ur, )); abbreviated as FWO), is a military engineering organization, and one of the major science and technology commands of the Pakistan Army. Commissioned and established in 1966, the FWO includes active duty ...

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

** Pakistan Marines ** Pakistan Maritime Security Agency *Pakistan Armed Services Board (PASB) *Military Accounts Department * Military Lands and Cantonments Department (MLCD) * Survey of Pakistan * Many of Pakistan's paramilitary organisations such as the Rangers, GB Scouts,

Frontier Corps The Frontier Corps ( ur, , reporting name: FC), are a group of paramilitary forces of Pakistan, operating in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to maintain law and order while overseeing the country's borders with Afghanist ...

and

Coast Guards A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

although officered and operationally directed by the Pakistan Army are administered and paid for by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. * The

Special Communications Organization The Special Communications Organization (SCO) ( ur, ) is Pakistani public sector organization operated by MoIT&T. SCO plays a role in providing telecommunication services in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to almost 1.7 million people, a q ...

(SCO) is administratively part of the

Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication ( ur, ), abbreviated as MoITT) is a Cabinet-level ministry of the Government of Pakistan concerned with Information Technology and Telecommunications. Organizations Pakistan Telec ...

but is maintained by

Pakistan Army Corps of Signals The Corps of Signals (Urdu: ﺁرمى سگنل كور; ''Army Signal Corps'', is an administrative corps and a major intelligence, science and technology formation of the Pakistan Army. The core objectives include research and development, te ...

. It was established in July 1976 with the mission of providing telecommunication services for civil government and the general population in AJK and

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

* In 2013 the Airports Security Force (ASF),

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Aviation Secretary of Pakistan, Secretary to the Governme ...

(PIA) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were transferred from the MoD to the newly formed Aviation Division of the Cabinet Secretariat. Overseen by a senior civil servant it is ultimately answerable to the Prime Minister. * The MoD's Defence Production Division was established in 1972 by President

which absorbed existing facilities such as

Pakistan Ordnance Factories , type = State-owned company , industry = Firearms, Defense, Machinery , fate = , successor = , founded = , founder = , defunct = , hq_location_city = Wah Cantonment, Punjab , hq_location_country = Pakistan , area_served = world ...

(POF) as well as overseeing the establishment of enterprises such as Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). In 2004 under President

the division was upgraded to a separate Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP). * Following the establishment of the National Command Authority (NCA) in February 2000 the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) oversees the security of enterprises involved in research, development and production related to Pakistan's nuclear deterrent including the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), the Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST) and the MoDP.

References

External links

MoD official website
{{authority control 1947 establishments in Pakistan

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

Military of Pakistan * Government agencies established in 1947 Ministries established in 1947

Hierarchy

History

Organization

See also

References

External links